This is my first post. Please forgive its length, its bad timing, its preachiness, its prejudices, etc. It's just one more opinion that I feel obligated to add.
In the interests of disclosure I'll reveal a little about my own bias. I think of Ray Franz as a dear friend. I said good-bye to Ray and Cynthia in their room on their last day at Bethel. To be honest, however, I have only seen Ray a couple times since then and have only spoken to him a few times by phone. I wish I knew Bill Bowen better. I have supported the silentlamb's work and have high hopes for SL's potential both to wake up JWs and help the cause of the abused.
Both Ray and Bill have been put on pedestals by some, and that's understandable. I know Ray well enough to know that, although he has always handled the pedestal with "grace and polish," he does not like the pedestal. Even before Ray left the JWs, his rare combination of humility, honesty, sincerity and good works endeared him to many people. I was privileged to listen to his morning text comments for several years from the time Knorr died until Ray left Bethel. I truly believe that the majority of Bethelites preferred to hear Ray's morning comments to those of any other GB member as they rotated each week. I knew many who would gladly skip breakfast just to avoid the grandstanding, the haughtiness, the harsh admonitions or longwinded ramblings of some of the others. Admitting this out loud would have embarrassed Ray, but I heard it stated often.
More to the point, I remember what seemed to be his favorite subjects: justice, righteousness, the spirit of the law over the letter of the law, the principle of true religion summed up in "looking after the orphan and the widow in their tribulation." One could easily understand his spirit, and therefore no one needed to hear him speak directly about rape, abuse, or pedophilia to know exactly where he stood on these subjects, or to feel the depth of his human compassion.
For that matter, no one needs to see me quote a bunch of scriptures, but they aren't to preach. I just thought it relevant to the discussion to show how awkward and incongruous Bill's comments must appear to anyone trying to imagine them actually coming from Ray. Ray spoke so often of freedom from law meaning that Christians are not to be motivated by rules. It had nothing to do with abandoning good principles (and good Laws) that serve to make justice and loving-kindness easier to administer. It would also mean that no one should be made to live by or impose a rule when its implementation resulted in injustice. Ray, through those breakfast comments, was probably the first to help me realize that both Jesus and Paul were saying that a good Law, even a Biblical law, SHOULD be broken when the letter of the Law results in harm. Jesus' sheep-rescue-on-sabbath example was to be directly applied to people, especially helpless lambs.
Specifically, the spirit of Paul's use of the two-witness rule was to promote justice and avoid unfair and false accusations. As Bill has emphasized, however, using it for cases of child abuse could easily result in miscarriage of justice. This is a perfect example of where the "Ietter of the law kills." Yet the spirit of that Law is still "protection from injustice," and it continues to represent an excellent spirit even when love might "forbid" its use.
There could be myriad reasons why Bill chose the words and claims about Ray. I have my own beliefs about it. But I'd rather forgive Bill than judge him. I still believe him capable of doing good, but I am concerned for the future of Bill's leadership and especially for the good work that he has championed. I can imagine a lot of folks will not be very forgiving, depending on how well they know Ray. It's so ironic that people have asked others to tone down the so-called attacks on Bill, for the sake of the organization (Silent Lambs). How can it do it's good work with a sullied reputation? It sounded all too familiar.
It is understandable that those who know Bill's reputation and good works are as anxious to defend him as I am anxious to defend Ray. Also, Bill's work has meant so much to many people on a very personal level, and those people especially would be expected to give Bill the benefit of the doubt. It might even be possible to entertain a suspicion that the 80-year-old Ray had perhaps begun feeling the fringes of senility. But a careful reading of Ray's response brings me great joy because I can see he is ever the spiritual, clear-thinking man I have known for a quarter century. I feel ashamed that I have not kept more closely in touch. Gilgamesh